FNA Custom Cycles Blue Smoke

It's funny how I come across the bikes that I cover sometimes... I was calling my bro’ Jimmy in Florida about planning some of the logistics for my Daytona trip to shoot the Old School Bike Show at Willie’s Tropical Tattoo. He was so amped about this crazy H2 and its builder we could barely talk about anything else. Well, sure enough, Uncle Jimmy was right about this bike. It’s cool as shit and has some trick engineering details to boot. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that I love alternative motored bikes, especially in the digger style. On top of all this the builder is a cool and articulate multi-talented mofo, so I’m gonna let Eric Allard from FNA Custom Cycles tell you the story of this machine in his own words.

“I got this Kawasaki 750 H2 engine a few years ago when I repaired a couple of springer front ends for a guy in trade. I had it sitting in the case after putting fresh rings in it. A friend of mine, Matt, wanted me to build something pretty wild and I told him I had some ideas using that power plant. I started building the bike with a digger style in mind. I wanted a molded prism style tank and oil bag that matched the fenders that I make. I got the flanged wheels from a swap and wanted to go with a skinny ribbed front and a big 18x5.5 in the rear to set off the digger look. I have always liked the style of Triumph dual leading shoe drums, and they actually stop pretty well too. With all the polish on this bike, the stock steel hubs that usually went with these brake plates weren’t going to cut it. The Early 70’s Triumph conical hubs have the same 8” brake size and can be polished up nicely. I wanted the bike to steer well and not be a pain to ride, so the trail was brought back in to being stock by the 8 raked trees. The prism style tank was molded in the frame for that clean digger style. The leather seat flips up for easy access to the capacitor and the oil reservoir fill. The bike took about 700 hours to complete over the course of a year and a half.”

Tire/wheel size and style: Front 18x2.5 old sporty rim laced to a Triumph conical front hub with a dual leading shoe 8” triumph brake plate. Rear: 18x2.5 old sporty rim laced to a Triumph conical rear hub with a dual leading shoe 7” triumph front brake plate. Favorite thing about this bike: est 110hp that hits all at once

Next modification will be: Change out the uni filters to some thing custom

Special Thanks to: My wife Wendy for putting up with the long shop hours, Scotty Starr for the CAD and fabrication work, John Mooney’s polishing that makes me look good, Matt White for owning the bike and letting me have open creativity, Kai Stauch for helping making it all work, Ruhl for the engine help, Nate Rayburn for welding the pipes after fitting, Josh Brennan for the bar design help, Jeff Kennedy, Mag Guru, for getting the old Fairbanks sparking great and WoodStock for the engine polishing.

Eric is the underdog, unsung hero of the chopper scene. Everything he builds comes out phenominal! Not afraid to use oddball powerplants or go outside the standard issue chopper rules. Not to mention, responsible for my sportster coming out so well.